TWC 5: It Came From Outer Space
by Zebeckras
Summary: Old Story! Final in the fivepart Webfoot Chronicles: Gosalyn finds she can trust no one when a shapeshifting alien tries to take over St. Canard.
1. Chapter 1

Darkwing Duck: The Webfoot Chronicles V  
"It Came From Outer Space"

* * *

Act I

"Ooh! Go, Darkwing! Hooray! Clobber that guy! ...Aw, he missed! Okay, go for him with your right! Go, go, go-- missed again!" cried Beth as she intently watched Darkwing on the news. 

"Those space Slime Monsters are slippery," said Gosalyn, sitting next to her on the couch and hogging the popcorn. 

"I oughta be there with him," said Launchpad anxiously, sitting on the other side of Beth. "I mean, he's only a couple'a blocks away. I could get there in about five minutes-" 

"No, Launchpad, you're still a little sick! You need to get rest, even if it is just a little cold. Besides, Drake looks like he's doing fine!" said Beth. She kept her eyes on the TV, admiring the way Darkwing leapt about, cape flowing behind him. "Sidekicks don't always have to be there. He seems to be doing a good enough job on his own of battling this alien invasion." 

"Beth-- it's not an invasion unless there's more than one of them. And there's only one out there," said Gosalyn, the resident know-it- all about aliens. 

"Oh... sor-RY," said Beth sarcastically, rolling her eyes. There was a time, just a few weeks ago in fact, when she most likely would never have had the nerve to speak to anyone that way, not even a friend. However, the introduction of Gosalyn, Launchpad, and of course, Darkwing Duck, to her life had helped her self-confidence quite a bit. Although she was still shy, she could at least relax around her friends. Of course, she only had three real friends, but... 

"It's GOT him!" yelled Beth suddenly, watching as the slimey green alien oozed its way over Darkwing's body. "Gimme the popcorn," she said, and grabbed the bowl from Gosalyn. Gosalyn was obviously pretty worried, because she gave it up without a fight. Beth, too, was much more worried than she let on to be. After all, if anything happened to Darkwing-- she didn't even want to think about it. She'd loved him since she met him, and even if he didn't return the emotion, well-- Beth's life would be empty without Drake Mallard in it. End of story. 

Launchpad, in a panic, was half out the door to try to save Darkwing when suddenly Gosalyn shouted, "Hey, look! It's leaving him!" Sure enough, the slime was rapidly creeping off of Darkwing's person, leaving him intact (although a little icky). The television camera trained on the ooze as, before anyone could stop it, it ran through a drainage pipe into the sewers and was gone. 

Wild cheering broke out, both onscreen and at the Mallard residence. 

"Hah! Take that, you alien scum!" shouted Gosalyn. 

"Wow, he's such a... HERO," said Beth softly. 

Launchpad agreed- after all, he was often impressed by Darkwing. But Beth was wearing her heart on her sleeve, as usual. There were days when he could stand the fact that the feelings he had for her were unrequited- in fact, those days were much more frequent than days like today, when suddenly, it all seemed like too much. 

Almost in answer to his thoughts, Beth stood up and put her hand to Launchpad's forehead. "You feel okay right now?" He didn't bother to tell her that he had been feeling mostly normal all day long, and hadn't had a fever at any time. Instead he just grinned and nodded. "Good. I'll get you some more juice. Hey, while I'm at it, I'll make lunch, how's that sound?" she asked, and took her hand from Launchpad's forehead. He was a little disappointed. 

"Not fruit salad?" whined Gosalyn. Beth just kept making the same thing, over and over, and even though she put cottage cheese in the salad sometimes it still got boring. 

"Yes, fruit salad. Drake LIKES the way I make fruit salad," said Beth, and sighed happily. 

"I like it too," said Launchpad quietly as Beth left the room. It meant very little, really, but... Was it really fair that she was so intensely concentrated on Drake? 

"Still like her?" asked Gosalyn softly. Launchpad nodded his head rather morosely. "Don't worry, Launchpad. She's gotta come around sometime." 

"Come on, Gos. If she goes for a guy like DW, what would she ever see in a guy like me?" he said. 

Gosalyn looked at him sympathetically. She wasn't great with pep talks, although she wanted to make Launchpad feel better. The only think she could think to say was, "Well, there are other girls. You don't need to focus on just one." 

He sighed and shook his head. "There are no other girls-- not like Beth. Not anymore. You just don't understand yet." 

"Whatever," said Gosalyn. He was starting to depress her, which was rare for Launchpad. He sighed and sat down, waiting for Darkwing to come home.

* * *

"Whew," said Darkwing as he came in the front door about fifteen minutes later, "am I beat! I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night-- I wouldn't be up now at all, if not for that space 'Monster'- so called." 

"Way to go, Dad! What was it like? Did it smell weird? Were you scared?" said Gosalyn, running up to him and giving him a big hug. 

"Nah! There was never even a doubt that I would be victorious!" he said as he returned the hug. 

"Wow, great job, DW! What didja do to scare it off like that?" said Launchpad. 

"Well, nothing any other Defender of St. Canard wouldn't have done..." 

"You don't know, huh?" said Gosalyn, grinning. Darkwing went on the defensive immediately. 

"Hey, hey, hey-- just because I don't know what I did doesn't mean I didn't do it! I mean, I AM the Terror That Flaps in the Night, you know!" he sniffed. 

"Hi, Drake," said Beth, coming in from the kitchen. "I saw you on the news... you did great." 

"Yeah, thanks," said Darkwing absently. "So, did you fix that fruit salad again today?" She nodded happily. He was on his way into the kitchen when the transporter chairs whirled around and Drake Mallard made his entrance. 

"What the-- just who do you think you are?" said both ducks at once. "I'm Darkwing Duck!" answered Darkwing. 

"I think not. I am Darkwing Duck!" said Drake. 

Gosalyn, Launchpad, and Beth all stared, too baffled to act. "This is WEIRD," whispered Launchpad. 

"No kidding," returned Gosalyn. Beth said nothing, but she looked as stunned as the others. 

"Hah! You proved you're not me! I would never reveal my secret identity to someone I didn't know!" said Darkwing, pointing a finger at him. 

"How stupid do you think I am? If you're here, dressed in my costume, then you must already know my secret identity-- so it's okay for me to talk about it. Besides, you're a fine one to talk-- how'd you get here?" 

Angrily, Darkwing said, "How do you think? I came in through the... door." He trailed off, realizing what a dumb thing he'd done. The house had been closer than the tower, and just taking the ten- minute walk from the scene of the fight had seemed like a natural idea at the TIME... 

"Ah-HAH!" said Drake. He looked smug. "Since when would a careful superhero walk right in the front door, in costume?" said the other one, taking hold of Darkwing's finger and moving it aside. 

"Ooops... heh heh... well, yeah, I must have, ah, overlooked that," said Darkwing. 

Gosalyn groaned and put her face in her hands. Only Dad would be THAT dumb. 

"I don't know who you are, but you can't get away with impersonating me!" said Drake, furiously eyeing Darkwing as he sputtered helplessly. "Waaaaaiit a minute-- I wonder if-- of course! You're that slime monster from earlier, aren't you?" 

"What? Me? No, I'm..." 

"Yeah, it all makes perfect sense now! Somehow, you must have absorbed my memories and shape! THAT'S why you left so quickly!" said Drake. 

"NO!" said Darkwing. Launchpad, Gosalyn, and Beth, unsure of what to think, stood around the pair and watched silently. Beth, seeing how sure and in-control Drake seemed, was pretty certain that he was the real thing. Launchpad was clueless- they both looked pretty convincing. 

"Quiet, you!" said Drake to his alter ego. 

"Hey, Drake!" said Beth. Both ducks turned to look at her. Hoping to win Drake's favor, she said, "Let's get a rope and tie the impostor up!" 

"Wait a minute! Beth! I am not an imp--" He was cut off as she looped the cord to a vacuum cleaner around his beak, shutting his mouth in mid-sentence. Launchpad decided that Beth was smart enough to figure out which DW was which. He trusted her, and went along with what she did. Together the two of them tied Darkwing up tightly. 

"Er... NOW what do we do with it?" asked Launchpad as things settled. 

"Oh, leave that to me. I'll deal with him. Not so tough now that you're bound and gagged, are you?" he said to the struggling form of Darkwing Duck - rather cruelly, Gosalyn noticed. He smiled at his prototype coldly, then looked up at Gosalyn. As he focused on his daughter, his expression changed quickly and he smiled warmly. She noticed the switch anyway. "So, Gos, do I get a 'Welcome back, thanks for defeating the alien twice' hug?" he asked, extending his arms to her. 

"Uh... no thanks, Pop, I think I'm coming down with Launchpad's cold," said Gosalyn, backing away from him. Drake's eyes narrowed a little, and a small red pinpoint blinked in the centers for a second, and then extinguished. Was she the only one who noticed? Drake's smile began to look more forced. Gosalyn gulped and took a step backwards. 

"Uh... Welcome back. Thanks for defeating the alien twice," said Beth shyly, behind him. She worked up all of her nerve, telling herself that it was okay for her to do this, and quickly put her shaking arms around his shoulders from behind. Drake froze in surprise, then relaxed. To her surprise and utter joy, he put his hands over hers and hugged her back as well as he could from that angle. Then he pressed his cheek to hers. She melted, giving out an almost inaudible sigh of contentment, and her eyes drifted shut. Launchpad watched for a moment and then sighed and turned away. Drake noted this and smiled a little. Behind him, Gosalyn watched them both with a bad feeling in her stomach. Darkwing, tied up and lying on the floor, started wriggling around and trying to say something. All of this happened in about five seconds, and then Drake let go of Beth and she looked about ready to faint from happiness. 

"Dad...," Gosalyn whispered, looking at Darkwing. He looked up and made eye contact with her. Then he tried to smile, but the gag twisted it. Gosalyn smiled back. 'I'll save you, Dad,' she promised silently. She was positive that this Darkwing was the real one- the other one was too... well... strange. But there was no way that she could catch the phony right here! Beth could have been made to realize the switch, but the alien's hug had successfully melted her brain cells. Launchpad might have noticed, but today he was too depressed over Beth. 

"Um... well... I guess you all should get ready to go to the Muddlefoots' picnic this afternoon, so I'll just... leave you for a while," said Beth. She was so nervous that she was shyly referring to the picnic as if she hadn't been invited. 

"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten! Gos, need any help getting ready?" Drake said. 

"No thanks, Dad, I'll just go upstairs... I'm, uh, gonna be... changing clothes, so don't come up after me!" she said, and bolted up the stairs. 

"Well... See you later," said Beth, and left to go to her home, two houses down the street. 

Once she was gone, Launchpad said, "Y'know, DW, I don't think I'm gonna go to the picnic. I mean, I know I'm feeling better and all, but I don't wanna get the Muddlefoots sick. The TQ could use a tune-up, and- I think I'll just hang out at the tower this afternoon." It was pretty obvious that this was a preconceived excuse not to have to be around Beth as she drooled over Drake. Usually he could handle it. She just seemed to be doing it a LOT today. 

"Fine," said Drake. "I'm going to take care of business," he said, pointing to Darkwing. "See you when I see you." As soon as Launchpad left, Drake turned to his double and smiled. If the first smile had been cold, this one was purely ice. Dry ice, the kind that would burn you if you touch it. 

"So. You didn't know what you were getting into, did you, Drake?" Darkwing stopped struggling and looked at the alien speaking to him, shocked at his tone. "No, you obviously didn't. Fool. Puny earthling FOOL." The words weren't so much spoken as they were SPAT out at him, dripping with contempt. "If you had, you wouldn't have let me touch you. Agrajag is my name. I am a Surussian- I doubt YOUR race has heard of us. We are hunters. Our pores secrete a chemical that allows us to duplicate the features of any race in the galaxy. I suppose by now, you've figured out that all I need is a moment of skin-to-skin contact- or feather-to-feather, or whatever, and I can assume the form of my 'host'-- not to mention I get all information necessary to perfectly replicate that lifeform's character. Did you know that that Webfoot girl is in love with you? S'true," said the alien. 

Darkwing's eyes widened. After all the times he'd yelled at her, she still...? He'd known that she didn't dislike him for the way he treated her, but it hadn't even occured to him that she would go so far as to LOVE him- after the way he treated her--! The shock was enough to keep him from struggling as the alien picked him up, slung him over his shoulder, and walked down the hall towards the closet with him. 

Agrajag went on. "Yeah, she's got it bad for you. I don't know who's the bigger loser, you or her! Ah, well, it doesn't matter now- you're all going to be dead within twenty-four hours. And within fourty-eight hours, I suspect that the Earth will belong to my race. I was sent as a probe, to see if the Earth was worth adding to my races 'collection'- and y'know, it's not bad here! I'll set about securing things shortly!" He took a momentary pause and shook his head, as if to regain his own speech habits. "Well, I only get surface memories and general abilities, mind you, so it's a good thing that Webfoot woman reminded us of the picnic, or I never would have known," he said, and dumped Darkwing in front of the closet. He opened the door. "Ah, a containment unit! I would never have guessed that YOUR race would have something so predatory! Looks a little primitive..." He poked his head into the closet and clicked on the light. Darkwing watched him, completely baffled. 'Containment unit'? Well, it made sense that a slime blob wouldn't have a coat closet... 

Agrajag continued. "No mechanized locks or stasis fields, but hey, you get what you pay for. You should be QUITE stable here." With that, he leaned down. "I think my next conquest had better be that little girl of yours. From what I gleaned from your and Beth's memories, she's quite perceptive-- She seems to be on the road to figuring things out. Ah, well, I've got time for all that. Lllllater." 

Agrajag shoved Darkwing in the closet, hard, and slammed the door. "Have fun," his voice came through the wood. Darkwing instantly started struggling against his bonds. Things were bad enough before, but knowing the kind of danger Gosalyn was in now... He had to get out of here! Why had he chosen TODAY to have his buzzsaw cufflinks de-rusted? This could take hours for him to get out of! He pulled at the vacuum cleaner cord, but it had been tied well. Those IDIOTS! They'd just about sentenced Gosalyn to death! 

Darkwing sighed. There was no time to think of that now. He set about rubbing his wrists together, trying desperately to slip out from the cord.

* * *

"Yooo-hooo, Gosalyn! Gos? Are you ready for the picnic or what?" asked Beth, as she knocked on Gosalyn's door. "Gos? You in there?" she said. 

Gosalyn spent a second or two adjusting the net she'd put up just above the door. A good yank on the string near the side of the door would set it loose, and once the alien was tangled up in THAT, then she could set off all five of her long-range sucker guns. Finally satisfied that everything was in place, she answered. "Yeah, I'm here. Come on in." She kept her arm near the string, ready to yank if it wasn't REALLY Beth. But it was- the eyes were normal. Plus, that alien would really have to work to duplicate Beth's slightly goofy, sweet smile. 

"Hi, Gos. What's taking so long?" she said as she came in, completely missing the big 'X' that was taped onto the floor under her feet. "Come on, we're all ready, let's go!" 

"Um... I don't think I'm gonna go, Beth." 

"What? Why not? Is something wrong?" she said, sitting on the bed. Gosalyn was more than a friend to Beth; in a way, she was almost a daughter, and Beth liked to think that she could help her handle some of the, er, problems that may arise in later years. 

"Wellll...," said Gosalyn, hesitating. She decided that Beth could be trusted, and so said, "It's Dad. He's not Dad. He's the alien!" 

This was obviously NOT what Beth had been expecting. She looked shocked. "Gosalyn, we settled this. That is your father, I am sure of it," she said firmly. Why she was so convinced was beyond Gosalyn- - maybe because she had hugged the thing and didn't want to admit it to herself. Gosalyn tried again. 

"But, Beth-- I'm telling you, that's not Dad! It's some kind of brain-sucking slime monster, like in 'The Invasion of the Carbon- Based Lifeforms From the Planet Uru'!" 

Beth stood up, thinking. Gosalyn held her breath hopefully. Obviously, Gosalyn had one heck of an imagination- but... Then again, there really was an alien. And Gos wouldn't purposely be so mean- spirited as to... Beth became more worried than before. The implication that Gosalyn might not even know that she was lying wasn't a very good thought, but for now, she decided to let it go. Maybe it was just a game. 

She sighed. "I'm not going to tell your father about this, Gosalyn. It would break his heart if he knew that you didn't trust him. I'll tell him you're feeling sick, and you can stay here tonight. But I'm not going to cover for you beyond that, okay? And if he finds out, I'm not defending you." She'd somehow managed to take on a motherly tone of voice, and Gosalyn knew she wasn't kidding-- and she wasn't going to change her mind. 

"Thanks, Beth," said Gosalyn reluctantly. Maybe this was all she was going to get, but she'd have to make the most of it anyway. "Where's Launchpad?" she asked. 

"Oh, I think he's gone out for the evening." She looked disappointed for a moment, but then went on: "I'm going to the picnic now, so I'll see you later." After giving Gosalyn another rather stern look, she left. 

"I never should have told her to be more assertive," muttered Gosalyn to herself. She was virtually allyless, she thought, until it hit her. "Of course! How could I have been so dumb? HONKER!" she exclaimed. 

On her way downstairs, Beth ran into Drake, who was just about to go upstairs. 

"Where are you going? I thought we were leaving!" said Beth. 

"I'm going up to get Gosalyn!" he said. 

"Oh, yeah... Uh, well, she's not coming. She's sick. She took some cough syrup to make her drowsy, and she should be down for the night," said Beth, trying her best to sound natural. 

"Oh," said Drake. "Well, I'll just go up and kiss her goodnight, then." 

"No-- she's asleep, I don't think you should disturb her. See her tomorrow, or later tonight, or something, okay?" 

Drake looked blank for a moment, but there was something in his silence that was more unnerving than if he'd been yelling. Beth began to feel a little uneasy. Then he snapped out of it and smiled at her. 

"Okay, let's go!" he said, and stepped off the bottom stair.


	2. Act II

"It Came From Outer Space"

* * *

Act II

"More pumpkin treats, Beth, dear?" asked Binkie Muddlefoot. 

"No thanks, Binkie, I've had my fill," said Beth. The plate of the strange hors d'oeuvres lingered in front of her for a second longer, and then Binkie moved on with her overly sweet creations. "Gag," said Beth to herself when she was sure Binkie was out of earshot. 

"How you doin', sweetie? Havin' a good time?" said Herb, leaning over towards her. 

"Great, Herb! These burgers are just... great!" she said, grinning. She meant it, of course- she just wasn't entirely sure of what else to say. The Muddlefoots were sweet people and all, and having them as next door neighbors was-- well, interesting-- but they weren't exactly civilized. Especially Tank. One morning Beth had woken up to find that Tank had gone through her trash, looking for something his mother had thrown out by accident. Beth had yelled at him, and then wondered aloud why he had gone through her trash and not his own. Tank hadn't bothered to answer her, just grunted and walked away. 

Honker was the exception in the family. It was strange to think that such a brilliant kid could come from a family like this. But Beth understood. Her own home life had been very similar. While she'd actually been at home, in any case. Speaking of Honker-- 

"Say, Mr. Muddlefoot, where's Honker?" said Beth as Herb began to turn away. 

"Oh, he's upstairs. He was gonna be eatin' with us, but he got a headache a little while ago and wanted ta go lie down." 

"Oh, that's too bad. Well, I guess I'll see him tomorrow," said Beth, smiling politely. Inwardly, she wondered about that excuse-- it sounded quite a bit like Gosalyn's reason for not attending. She and Honker were best friends, and Gosalyn was quite adept at bending his will to get him to help her... 

And meanwhile, up in Honker's room, Beth's suspicions proved right. 

"But you've gotta help, Honk!" 

"Gosalyn, I find it a little hard to believe that your father is an alien!" exclaimed Honker, pushing his glasses up. 

"He's not an alien! But that thing down there pretending to be him IS!" said Gosalyn urgently. 

"But, Gosalyn...," said Honker, his will beginning to falter a little. 

"Honk, I need your help! You're the only one who'll believe me! The real Darkwing Duck is depending on you... Maybe the whole world is!" 

This comment would have had a suitably ego-boosting effect on any other person, but for Honker, the idea was almost too much to bear. "But-- but-- Oh, Gosalyn, what can I do? If it already beat your dad--" 

"Yeah, but it took him by surprise! We've got an edge so far, Honker! Come on! We'll think of something!" She glanced out the window to make sure the alien was still there and hadn't gone back to the house. Her heartbeat sped up when she saw it rise from the picnic table and start back towards the house. 

Outdoors, Agrajag waved to his hosts as he walked next door. "Excuse me, I forgot something in the house, Herb," he said. "Back in a few!" 

Gosalyn turned back to Honker. "Listen, I gotta get home before the alien finds out I'm here. Call me and we'll figure something out!" she said, and grabbed ahold of the pulley system she had devised from his window to hers. 

At the door to the house, Agrajag's eyes widened. The child from earlier was hanging halfway out the window above! No more time could be wasted, he concluded. He entered the Mallard house and started up the stairs. As he moved, he transformed to a slimy, jelly-like substance and then assumed the form of Beth Webfoot. Reaching Gosalyn's door, she raised a fist and knocked. 

"Gosalyn?" she called. Inside, Gosalyn had her trap all rigged. At the sound of Beth's voice, she paused and lowered the trip-cord. After a moment of thought, she let it go all the way and said, "Yeah?" 

"Gosalyn, can I come in?" said Beth. 

"Um... sure, I guess so," said Gosalyn, and let her in. 

"What was that all about?" said Beth, glaring at her sternly. 

"What?" she asked innocently. 

"You know... that whole hanging-out-the-window thing. If Drake had seen you--" 

"You mean he didn't?" asked Gosalyn. 

"No, lucky for you. You can't imagine the trouble you'd be in if he had." Gosalyn, relieved, turned away from Beth and looked out of her window. Beth continued. "I can't believe you'd pull something like this, Gos! I mean, telling me that you're sick and all... that's just--" 

"What?" said Gosalyn, freezing at the window. 

"Lying to me like that, Gosalyn! That could get both of us in a lot of trouble!" The eyes! Why hadn't she looked at the eyes! 

Gosalyn tried not to let anything show through her body language as she turned and walked towards the alien. Then, as quickly as she could, she grabbed her bow and arrow set, nocked a glue arrow, and let it fly at the alien. As usual, it was right on the mark. Agrajag's face tightened into a mask of fury. 

"Why you little--" she cried, in Beth's voice but different tones. 

"Take that, you alien scum!" said Gosalyn smugly. 

Agrajag spread her arms and the glue stretched, entangling her more. Then she shimmered and her form lost its solidity, almost seeming to melt. The glue became a part of the giant mass of slime, absorbing into Agrajag's natural form. Then its body reformed, again as Beth, and she smiled coldly. "Now, Gosalyn," she said softly, "Come to Aunt Bethie..." She moved towards Gosalyn slowly, almost sluggishly, as though the glue were still affecting her. 

"Hey, Gosalyn, what's going on up here?" said another voice. Beth walked into the room, and froze. "Oh, my God...This can't be possible!" Realization dawned on her. "Oh, no-- if you're... Then that means-- Oh, no..." she blurted, remembering what she'd done earlier to Darkwing. 

"Shut up!" shouted Agrajag. She shoved her counterpart into the wall, and then cornered Gosalyn. "You're trapped, you little waif... There's no escape for you this ti-" She was cut off as Beth threw herself at her legs. 

"Get out, Gos!" said Beth as she struggled with herself. "Boy, this is too weird...," she muttered under her breath. 

"But-- But, I can't just leave you!" said Gosalyn, rooted to the spot. 

"Yes, you can! Go! RUN! Get help," she cried, as the alien was able to slam her down to the ground, "get Launchpad!" 

Gosalyn broke and ran, and didn't look back.

* * *

Agrajag hummed as she carried Beth, over her shoulder, to the "containment unit" in the front hall. She had been more affected by that glue bomb than she cared to let on, but refused to let that spoil her mood. "You earthlings are all such fools," she said as she tried to balance Beth on her shoulder and open the door at the same time. "Well, here we are." She stopped and looked at Darkwing, then smiled coldly. "Why, Darkwing Duck, are you trying to wriggle your way out of this little trap? Shame on you!" She set Beth down and put a foot firmly on her back, then bent and retied the knots holding Darkwing. He glared at her, and she blew a kiss at him. Then she picked Beth up, lifted her, and threw her down across Darkwing's stomach. "I know the two of you will have loads to talk about... Must dash, ta!" she said, slamming the door shut. 

Beth squirmed, trying to comfort the pain in her back. In doing this, she accidentally elbowed Drake in his chest, and he groaned. She smiled guiltily. He glared at her, silently, trying to catch his breath.

* * *

Launchpad, true to his word, was at the tower that evening, working under the hood of the Thunderquack to keep his mind off of Beth. It was working pretty well, too. He paused and looked out a window. It was dark out already! Boy, time was going fast! He spoiled it by wondering suddenly what Beth was doing right now... He sighed. It was probably a good thing he wasn't around her, but he did miss the picnic. He'd been looking forward to it for several days. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. A footstep. He turned to see Beth approaching him. 

"Hi, Launchpad! What's up?" she said sweetly. 

He couldn't help being happy to see her, even though he did feel a little odd around her. "Hi! Not much, I'm just givin' the ol' TQ a tune- up!" he said, trying to act casual. "So, what'cha doin' here? What about the party at the Muddlefoots'?" 

"Oh, you know-- the Muddlefoots are real nice people and all, but... their party is still kind of dull," she said, still smiling at him. The smile was so unsubtle it was almost predatory, and it wasn't Beth's style at all. It made Launchpad a little nervous. 

"Really? Ya think so? 'Cause I always thought that they give real neat parties! ... I mean, last year--before you knew them, y'know-- they gave a party with a 'Pelican's Island' theme," he said, starting to stutter a tad out of nerves. "See, Drake was Pelican, and Herb was Flipper... it was, y'know, it was... great." 

"What were you?" she asked, moving a little closer to him and sitting on the edge of the plane. She crossed her legs slowly. 

"M-me? Oh, well, I wasn't really anything. 'Cause it was really just, uh, well--" 

She held a finger to her bill in a shushing manner. "It's okay, Launchpad," she said soothingly. Was it his imagination, or did she sound almost... seductive? "I'm not here for small talk. I know how you feel." 

"Ya do? How? Uh... what feeling exactly are you talking about?" 

She didn't answer, just looked at him. 

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused. She kept looking at him patiently, waiting for him to catch on, but he remained lost. "What? No, really, what?" She sighed, and poked him in the chest and then pointed at herself. "Oh," he said, and started to work under the hood of the Thunderquack again. 

She laughed a little. "Launchpad-- Launchpad, it's okay! Come out of there, I want to talk to you! Come on...," she said, pulling him out by his scarf. "Listen, it's okay... I... I feel the same way." 

He couldn't speak for a moment. "You- you do?" he managed to say softly. 

She nodded. "I always have. That whole thing with Drake was just to get you jealous so that you'd make the first move... but today I finally saw that it's not going to work that way. I thought I'd better do it myself, or else we might never get together." She smiled again, more tenderly than the first time, and said, "I... love you, Launchpad." 

Launchpad found that he couldn't answer at all. She- loved him? Wow! He'd never even guessed! Was he supposed to say something now? From the way she was watching him, he figured that he was. "Ah... gee, Beth... I- I don't know what to..." 

"Shhhh. Don't say anything... Just be quiet and kiss me," she whispered. 

He was sort of taken aback by this forwardness on her part, since it wasn't something he'd expect from her. Meanwhile, he suddenly shut down completely about what to do. Sure, he'd dreamed about kissing Beth, but at the moment Launchpad was far too nervous to really go through with it. There was still something slightly intimidating about her just now, that he hadn't accounted for. In the end, it was his hesitation that saved him. ALMOST. 

After several moments of stuttering, sweating, and deliberating, he looked down at her face- lips puckered, eyes shut, awaiting the moment. That was it- he couldn't disappoint her. 'Well, here goes nothing,' he thought to himself. He whispered, "I love you, too, Beth," and leaned towards her. 

"No, Launchpad! DON'T TOUCH IT!" cried Gosalyn, making her delayed entrance, with Honker hot on her tail. 

"Huh? Don't touch what?" he said, and jumped back from Beth, startled. 

Beth scowled violently, in a manner that was most unlike her in every way. "You little brat! You're too late!" she cried to Gosalyn, and grabbed Launchpad by the bill. This was extremely uncomfortable for him, and Agrajag knew it. Psychological games were usually her favorite modes of defeating a victim, but if she was thwarted in those she was just as happy to cause the victims physical pain. Having made contact with Launchpad, she brutally shoved him aside and assumed his form. 

"Beth?" he said, sitting on the floor, stunned. 

Agrajag turned to him and leered at him cruelly. "You're just plain PITIFUL," Launchpad heard himself say, although the tone of voice was one he would never have thought he'd possessed. Not knowing what to think, he sat on the floor motionless. 

"Come ON, Launchpad! We've got to get out of here!" cried Gosalyn, running to him and grabbing his hand. 

"Gosalyn-- I don't believe this! You were right!" said Honker. 

"DUH!" exclaimed Gosalyn, rolling her eyes as she tried to think of a way of getting past the alien. "Okay-- Honk, you go to the left! Launchpad, you take the right, and I'll go straight down the middle!" she said. All three of them split up at once, and, just as she'd wanted, the alien didn't think to stop her as she dove straight at it. 

Instead he went for Honker. 

Catching him by his bookbag, Agrajag grinned and said, "So, I hear you're a genuis, Honk-man! You guys tend t'be pretty level-headed when the crunch comes in. I can use that." 

"Honker!" said Launchpad, screeching to halt. The poor kid looked terrified. Without even a moment's thought, Launchpad decided to go back and rescue him. After all, what could the alien do to him? Look like him? Fighting himself would be an interesting situation. 

Still holding Honker, the alien turned around and went in Launchpad's direction. "Guess what, LP?" he said as he slowly walked forward. Launchpad gulped, but kept a tough expression on his face as he rolled up his sleeves. Agrajag changed form, resembling Beth now. "She never loved you. She doesn't even know." He was hurt for a moment, but then the hurt just strengthened his resolve. 

Gosalyn, seeing the peril her friends were in, stopped short. "Launchpad! Don't try to fight it! Just RUN!" she cried. 

Launchpad shook his head, a determined look in his eye. "No, Gos- - this is somethin' I gotta do," he said. The alien had made him mad. There was no way he was backing down now. This was for DW, and Beth, and Honker. Anyone who saw Launchpad McQuack at this moment would never think of him as just a sidekick. There was no doubt that he was every bit a hero in his own right. 

Agrajag stopped walking and put Honker down in the front passenger of the Thunderquack, and tied seatbelts all around him. His form changed back to Launchpad as he looked at him with no trace of emotion on his face, except for a cool sort of superiority. 

"Well!" said Launchpad. "What are you waitin' for?" 

Agrajag shrugged, rolled his eyes, and switched into his natural form. In a second, the slime monster enveloped Launchpad and smothered his scream. In the seat of the Thunderquack, Honker was feeling very queasy and frightened, but was forcing himself to pay attention. 

"NO!" yelled Gosalyn. Too many friends were gone. She more alone than she'd ever been. Gosalyn made up her mind right then not to let the alien get away with this. This alien was going down. As she finished her scream, it looked up at her. 

"You are still here?" it said in a frightening combination of Darkwing, Beth, and Launchpad's voices. "By my understanding, any earthling with common sense would have realized the futility of the situation and have fled by now. If you are truly so foolish as to remain here, however, I will not stop you. A personality like yours- with so much, as your father calls it, 'spirit'- can always come in handy in overthrowing the world." 

Realizing that she didn't have anything even remotely resembling a plan, Gosalyn revised her outline for attack and pledged to return later. For the moment, she made her escape. Agrajag watched her go. It was still working the glue out of its system, and if it had tried to catch the child it would probably have exhausted itself. It was a hunter; it knew its limits. The two males had made their capture quite easy, by simply standing still or even running towards it. 

Turning back to the unconscious Terran lying at its feet, Agrajag shifted forms again, to the strongest physical Terran form available. He bent and picked his prototype up from the ground, and stuck him in the backseat of the Thunderquack. This form came in more handy than he'd expected, he realized, as it included the knowledge of how to operate a Terran flight vehicle. This would allow him to blend into Terran surroundings until his superiors arrived on Earth. Agrajag considered his future- it was looking pretty good. At the rate he was going, he'd be in line for a promotion in just a little while... He was humming to himself as he started up the engine. 

"Wh-where are we going?" asked Honker timidly. 

Agrajag looked at the boy in surprise, apparently not expecting him to talk. "Oh-- I thought you were asleep or somethin'. Oh, well. At the moment, little Honkster, you an' our big dumb buddy here are takin' a trip to the containment unit where I'm keepin' the others. Then I'm gonna look around a little more for Gos, to make sure she doesn't get help from anyone an' stuff. If she doesn't show by morning, I'll forget about lettin' ya all die together, and just get you guys outta the way." He grinned at Honker coldly. 

"Well- what if you don't find Gosalyn?" 

"We can do just fine without her," said Agrajag, temporarily shifting to Beth. "After all, her intellect certainly isn't necessary to us. And," she added, becoming Drake, "I don't need anyone but myself." He switched back to Launchpad in a hurry, in order to get the plane out of the nosedive it had fallen into. 

"Stupid Terrans... Why can't they all do the same things! To fly a plane, I gotta be him. To speak straight, I gotta be her. What a crock," he muttered under his breath. Honker noted this silently.

* * *

Darkwing had tried his best to communicate to Beth, without being cruel, that she needed to roll off of his stomach. She hadn't taken any of the hints he'd dropped (which mostly consisted of looking at her and nodding his head in a jerky motion- she'd thought he was having a seizure and panicked), so finally he'd rolled over, and knocked her off of himself. Then he'd set about his activity from before, straining at his bonds. He'd noticed that, unfortunately, Beth's glasses had fallen off of her face when she'd been pretty much flipped over. He hoped he'd remember to apologize when he got them both out of there. 

He hadn't even made it halfway this time before the alien came back, and unceremoniously dumped both Launchpad and Honker in the closet. Darkwing noticed with what was almost amusement that Launchpad's still-unconscious head was resting against Beth's chest. Wouldn't he be happy when he woke up, Darkwing thought, although Beth looked fitfully embarrassed. Darkwing noted these things mostly to take his mind off of the fact that both Launchpad's legs and most of Honker's body were pinning his arms to his chest, making it impossible for him to get out of the vacuum cord. He'd failed Gosalyn, his own daughter. What good was he?

* * *

Gosalyn spent a while arguing with herself as to whether it was worth it to go home and get her arrows to defend herself; after all, the glue arrow had slowed it down before. But if the alien was at the house, she'd REALLY be in trouble. Finally, she gave a mental shrug. It had been awhile since she'd run away from the tower; if the alien had checked the house for her first, there was a decent chance it wouldn't be there now. The house was dark as she let herself in through the back door, and her heart pounded every time a floorboard creaked. 

She successfully made it to her room, grabbed her quiver of arrows, and was on her way back out when she heard a noise from the hall closet. She nearly had a heart attack, but once she caught her breath, she thought, 'What am I so scared of? I'm the QUIVERWING QUACK! Beating up villains is my JOB!' With that, she nocked another glue arrow and advanced on the door. She hit a snag when she realized that she couldn't open the door while she was aiming. Briefly, she considered running away, but the noise came again, and it occured to her that she could catch the alien by surprise. She took a deep breath and quietly turned the doorknob, then got her arrow into position and pried the door open with her foot. The arrow nearly fell from its position when she saw the group huddling in the enclosed space. 

"Guys?" asked Gosalyn, hardly daring to hope. At first she thought maybe it was a trap laid out by the alien, but then she remembered that it was unable to duplicate more than one person at a time. "Guys! I found you!" she yelled, and she set about untying them amidst their muffled yells of excitement. 

"Gosalyn! Thank God! Wow, how'd you do it?" asked Beth, as put her glasses back on, then stood up and stretched her legs. Interestingly enough, however, she kept her arms crossed across her chest almost from the moment she was freed, and occasionally looked at Launchpad and blushed. Launchpad did much the same thing. 

"Um... Oh, you know, instinct, I guess," she replied. 

"It was an accident, huh?" asked Darkwing teasingly. 

"Hey, hey, hey... just cause I didn't mean to do it doesn't mean I didn't do it, right?" asked Gosalyn. 

"That's my daughter," said Darkwing, giving her a warm hug. 

"Way to go, Gos," said Launchpad. "Looks like we were worried about ya for nothin'!" He ruffled her hair. She squirmed and ducked her head, grinning. 

"Dad... I always knew the alien wasn't really you," she said. 

Beth looked guilty. "Oh, heh heh, about that... Um, I'm really really sorry, Drake... it was an honest mistake, right?" She looked at him with the most innocent face she could muster. It wouldn't have had any effect on Darkwing except that he suddenly remembered what the alien had told him: Beth was in love with him. Even if he didn't WANT her to be, she was, and she'd had an awfully rough time with him so far. Maybe... just this once, he owed her an apology. 

"Well, heck, it could have happened to anyone. No hard feelings," he said, offering her his hand. Beaming, she took it and they shook firmly. 

"Uh, say, DW, shouldn't we try to do something about the monster?" asked Launchpad. There was an anxious quality to his voice that didn't seem to have anything to do with the alien. His attention was firmly riveted on Beth. That was when it dawned on Darkwing that maybe Launchpad had more than just a crush on Beth. She remained oblivious, clutching Darkwing's hand as if it were her lifeline. He sighed. This made things a bit more difficult to handle. 

"Well, guys, unless you know more than Agrajag told me in its personal life history that every villain seems to feel obliged to tell me," said Darkwing, gently removing his hand from Beth's, "you'd better listen for a few moments while I tell you what I know." 

After Darkwing's recap of what he'd been told, everyone began to speak at once about what to do. "We could lure the alien into a trap baited with butter and roses!" said Launchpad. 

"Well, I...," said Honker, who was drowned out by Gosalyn. 

"Butter and roses! What the heck are you talking about? We'd have to use brains for the bait-- there's nothing aliens like more than that!" 

"But Gosalyn, I--" said Honker, and was cut off by Launchpad this time. 

"Eeeeeeewww! Brains? Whose brains would you-- oh, no!" he said, keeping a firm hand on his flight cap. 

"No, no, no! I meant that we'd get something that looked like brains!" said Gosalyn. 

"But, but I--" said Honker, too quietly to be heard. 

"Listen, this is something that we really need to think through," said Beth, who had just recently learned how to make herself heard. Honker sighed inwardly and wished she'd give him some tips. 

"The alien thinks that it's much smarter than us. It would see through those kinds of ploys in a flash. We have to think of something better. If we only knew if it had a weakness..." she mused, cupping her chin in her hand and thinking. 

"Hey, Honker's smart! Maybe the two of you can think of something together!" said Gosalyn enthusiastically. 

"Right! Any ideas, Honker?" said Darkwing. Everyone turned to Honker, and with all eyes on him he found it impossible to speak straight. 

"Um... um... I... um...," he stuttered. The others watched him anxiously for a moment and then rolled their eyes and started to turn away. "Wait!" he shouted, startling them. "I was thinking... Well, I mean, I watched the alien when it changed its shape a few times and I think I've determined the stages that it has to go through. It's not made of normal flesh, it's made up of some sort of slime- almost like a gel!" 

"Yeah, we know," said Darkwing. 

"Wait, I think he's leading up to something," said Beth. "Go on, Honk." 

"Anyway, even though it spends most of its time in earthling forms, it can only do the things that a certain person is good at when it assumes that form... and to do that, it has to-" 

"To switch to its transient state! I gotcha! We can catch it that way!" exclaimed Beth. "NOW, all we have to do is think of a WAY to catch it that way..." 

"Hey!" said Gosalyn, and held up her glue arrow. "Earlier, I shot it with a glue bomb, but it got out by switching into the Cool Mint Gel body and sucking the glue into itself. Afterwards, though, it was moving kinda slow for awhile!" 

Beth snapped her fingers. "I remember! It was going slowly, when I was fighting it! I didn't know you'd hit it with glue, though. Hmm... Hmmm! Hey, guys, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she said, with a grin in Honker's direction. 

"Um, I think so, Beth," said Launchpad, "but what if the alien doesn't fit in any jello molds?" Silence. Beth blinked. Launchpad blushed and said, "Ah, never mind." 

"Well," said Honker, "I think what Beth was thinking was that we could hit Agrajag with a much higher-potency glue solvent to slow it down more effectively." 

"Close, Honker! I was thinking, actually, that we should see if we can't freeze it completely- just sort of chemically cement it or something. The absorption of the glue really implies that it takes everything that touches it through itself- that chemical that it told you it secretes, Drake, maybe it really operates by absorbing the secretions of OTHER lifeforms, or something, I don't know. I'd need time to do much more than theorize. But if we could come up with a powerful enough glue solvent--" She turned to look at Honker, who was already flipping through a textbook he'd pulled out of his bookbag. Beth went and read over his shoulder. "This should work. This should work well enough to pretty much FREEZE it!" 

"Keen gear!" said Gosalyn, contemplating the possibilities of giving frozen alien popsicles to Tank. "Heh heh heh... he'd probably eat 'em, too...," she said to herself with an evil chuckle. 

"Great! So, Beth, you and Honker can team up and fix up this formula while Launchpad and I try to pinpoint the location of the alien," said Darkwing. 

"What do I get to do?" asked Gosalyn. 

"Oh, you can come with us...," said Darkwing. 

"Woo-hooo!" shouted Gosalyn, leaping up into the air. 

"...As bait," he finished. 

"D'oh!" said Gosalyn.


	3. Act III

"It Came From Outer Space"

* * *

Act III

"Well, as I see it, Officer Baillie, the threat of the alien invasion is looming over us all in a very real, very frightening way!" 

"Thank you, Darkwing Duck, I'll look over your suggestions. But I really don't see a need to bring the Armed Forces into this," said the police constable, waffling a bit to keep the duck from being offended when his proposition was refused. Darkwing Duck's visits to the main St. Canard station were usually pretty regular, although he rarely did much more than drop off the latest criminal he'd busted. THIS was certainly a new reason for visiting. 

"You don't understand, sir. Even I couldn't beat this thing. It's going to take an army to defeat it, and as I've had some experience in combatting it, I suggest that I be put at the head," said Darkwing. 

"Mr. Darkwing! You are stepping out of line! We are quite well- equipped in both the Army and the National Guard for dealing with a threat such as this, and I resent your--" said Officer Baillie, but he was cut off. 

"Fine then, sir, don't believe me. But I can show you a young man who has definitive proof of the defense levels we'll be needing. I'll send in Honker Muddlefoot," said Darkwing as he left the room. Honker promptly came in and greeted the officer with a smile. 

"Hello, young man. Can I help you?" asked Officer Baillie. He smiled warmly. Being only recently married, he had no children, although he'd always wanted at least three. He had been an only child, and as a result he looked forward to having a big family. At this point in his life, he was attempting to convince his wife that having children wouldn't put a big dent in her career as a lawyer. So far, she seemed less than enthusiastic, and had used the line, "Fine, we can have all the kids you want, as long as YOU give birth to them and take care of them during the day" several times. 

Honker smiled again, then took a deep breath and began. "Hello. I've been doing some research in the field of UFOs, and I've come to agree with Darkwing Duck that the Armed Forces are neccessary- possibly even the Marines. The alien force at work here is one we know nothing about... It secretes a chemical that allows it to duplicate the characteristics of any lifeform on this planet, once it has made contact with a specimen. It seems bent on conquering this city, and has sworn that nothing will stop it from conquering the world! There's a pretty good chance that it will accomplish this, actually, since it's a hunter and it possesses intelligence far above anything OUR race has seen. Once St. Canard is secure, it plans on calling in its fellow Surussians to help take over the rest of--" 

Baillie couldn't suppress a good-natured chuckle. "Well, little fellow, you just said a mouthful! But, let me ask you, do you really have any definite proof here? You do know what 'proof' is, don't you?" said the constable kindly, albeit somewhat patronizingly. 

"Of course I know, you buffoon!" snapped Honker uncharacteristically. 

Officer Baillie frowned. "I'm afraid your tale just isn't very plausible to us right now. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you and Mr. Darkwing to leave," he said as he rose and went to the door. He opened it and leaned out, saying, "Darkwing, I regret to tell you that you're going to have to..." He trailed off, noticing that Darkwing was nowhere in sight. 

Meanwhile, behind him, Agrajag/Honker was preparing to grab him by the neck so as to gain skin-to-skin contact while simultaneously knocking him out-- but something he saw outside attracted his attention first. 

"Hiya, Honk!" said Gosalyn as she came in through the front door. "'Scuse me, Officer, I'm old friends with Honker here, and we have some urgent business to discuss." 

"Would you care for a lollipop?" asked Officer Baillie. He kept a big bowl of lollipops for any kids who might come in. 

"No, thanks. So, Honker, what have you been talking about with the gentleman here? You're not trying to spread those UFO theories again, are you? Please don't pay any attention to him, sir-- he does this every now and then," she said politely. 

Officer Baillie nodded understandingly. "It's so sad when that happens. I hope you're getting the appropriate medical attention," he said quietly. 

"Why, you little--" said Agrajag, eyes burning. He pushed his way past the Constable, regrettably catching only the fabric of his shirt, and set off after Gosalyn. She tore out of the office, running as fast as she could. Agrajag shifted to Launchpad's form so that he could run faster, and began to gain on her. Down the street, Darkwing and Launchpad waited in the Ratcatcher. They revved up the motor, and she jumped in as soon as she reached them. 

Agrajag was unable to keep up with them and was left in the dust, but didn't let them out of his sight. His eyes narrowed, and he snarled, then turned and ran in the opposite direction, towards where he'd left his ship. 

Meanwhile, Honker and Beth were in the tower, making use of the extensive equipment that Darkwing kept there. Beth was impressed; Drake was obviously VERY smart, if he kept all this stuff around. What a guy. 

The solvent had been mixed, with a few small changes from what had been detailed in the book that had given them the idea. For one thing, they had doubled the amount of beryllionate, the chemical that was supposed to be behind the strength of the glue's bonding. "Do you think it's going to work, Honker?" asked Beth. She was watching the formula bubble slightly, atop a bunsen burner. The bubbles that it made were suitably thick. 

"Assuming that Agrajag has the appropriate reaction to the beryllionate, there's only a-" Honker paused, fiddled with his calculator, and then continued- "three point six eight two percent chance that this will fail." 

"What if it isn't as affected by the extra beryllionate?" 

"Then, there's a... seventy-three point eight five chance of failure." He looked up at Beth. They gulped in unison. "BUT... the chance of Agrajag NOT being affected by the beryllionate is-" He stopped again to enter more figures into the calculator. 

Suddenly the walkie-talkie crackled into life. Beth and Honker both jumped. Honker was the one who had his hands free, so he put down the calculator and answered it. "Um... Hello?" he said tentatively. 

"Hey, Honkster! How's it comin'? You gonna be able to meet us on the bridge in a few minutes?" came Launchpad's voice. 

"Gee, Launchpad, I don't know... I mean, it has to settle and all...," he said. 

"Lemme talk to Beth, 'kay, Honkman?" said Launchpad kindly. 

Honker, understanding that they were in a hurry, gave the walkie- talkie to Beth and carefully took the tongs that held the beaker from her hands. 

Beth had never used a walkie-talkie before, and was obviously slightly confused by it. She held it to her ear like a telephone and said "Hello?" When she got no answer, she repeated it, then took the contraption away from her face and looked at it. "Oh. I press this, don't I?" she said sheepishly, pointing to a big button on the side. She pressed the button, put the walkie-talkie to her ear again, and repeated, "Hello?" Then she pulled it away, startled by the sudden burst of static. 

"Hey, how're things goin'?" asked Launchpad, a note of tenderness creeping into his voice as he talked to her that Beth took no notice of whatsoever. 

"Fine, thanks... why? Oh, you meant with the formula... I knew that," she said with a nervous laugh. "Good enough, I hope. I guess we're just about done, but we should make sure that it doesn't cool off too much, or else then it'll solidify early and it won't be of any use to us at all. On the other hand, if it's too hot it might take a while to solidify inside Agrajag's system, and--" 

There was some noise in the background that Beth recognized as voices, then Launchpad spoke again. "DW says he's sure whatever ya got is fine." Beth beamed- Drake was saying the nicest things today! "An' I know that whatever ya got'll be great," added Launchpad. 

Beth smiled and blushed, then realized that he couldn't see that over the walkie-talkie and said, "Thanks," out loud. "Honker's being a big help. Without him I sure couldn't have gotten this far." 

"Yeah, ain't he smart?" Launchpad was grinning, Beth had a feeling. "Anyway, DW says we'll be at the bridge in about three minutes. Think ya can make it?" 

"Yeah, we should be able to make that." 

"Okay... Well, take care, alright?" he said somewhat softly. 

"You, too. See you soon," she said. 

"Roger!" 

"Ten-four," she said, not sure if it was the right thing to say but liking the sound of it. She turned back to Honker. They made eye contact, each realizing that the other was as nervous as they were. "Hey. I wonder what the probability of Agrajag being affected by the beryllionate really IS?" she said. 

Honker glanced at his calculator, which he'd placed on the chair that had been next to him when he'd stood up. "I didn't finish figuring it out." 

Beth took a quick breath. "We're probably better off not knowing. Ready?" 

Honker nodded. Beth shut off the flame on the bunsen burner. 

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! It'll be here any second!" said Darkwing, taking the vial from Beth quickly. 

"Careful," she said, "the stopper in there might not be very secure." Darkwing nodded and handled the vial more carefully. Beth followed him around as he paced across the bridge. "Anyway, how would it know that we're here? You were on the Ratcatcher, and it was following on foot, wasn't it?" 

"Doesn't matter! It's some sort of alien genius, remember? Put the barricades up! Faster!" he shouted to Gosalyn and Launchpad, who were each blocking off separate ends of the bridge to keep citizens from endangering themselves. As they were finishing up, the sound of an aircraft overhead became louder and louder. Beth looked up. 

"Oh, my-- Darkwing? Darkwing, you might want to move...," she said. 

"Huh? Why's that?" he said, a few feet away from her. She was looking up, transfixed, at the gray, darkened sky. A storm was coming, and it was going to be a doozy. 

She said nothing for a moment, and then shook herself out of it and repeated, "Drake. Move." 

He looked up and saw a strange, silver shape plummeting down from above. As it got closer, Darkwing saw that it was a ship. A spaceship. Its trajectory was headed straight for the center of the bridge, where Beth and Darkwing were standing. 

"MOVE!" shrieked Beth, and darted off to the side, in Launchpad's and Honker's direction. Darkwing chose the side of the bridge that Gosalyn was on, and both of them had just cleared the center when the ship struck the bridge. The explosion was deafening. In the aftermath, they stared through the smoke, trying to find any clue as to whether Agrajag was alive or not. 

Darkwing took Gosalyn's hand. "I wonder why it crashed," he said softly. "It was like it didn't even know how to fly its own ship." 

A strong gust of wind swept most of the smoke away, and a soft hissing sound was heard below the howl of the wind. Beth gasped as the door of the crashed ship slid open, and Launchpad's form stepped out. "Don't worry," said Agrajag, "I'm OKAY!" He grinned, and the red points in his eyes flared up. 

"Well, that answers THAT question," muttered Darkwing. He fingered the plug in the vial of the glue solvent that Beth and Honker had fixed up. 

Agrajag turned and looked at him. "Say, DW! You an' Gos are all alone over there- Why don't you come join the loser group over here?" He started to lunge at them, his eyes flaring red, and Launchpad grabbed him from behind. 

"THIS time we're on equal ground!" he said, and slammed Agrajag to the pavement. Agrajag growled and pulled his prototype onto the pavement as well, and they started pummeling at each other. Beth screamed. At that moment, a roar of thunder tore through the air, and abruptly the rain started pouring down on them. 

"Hold this," said Darkwing, and shoved the vial into Gosalyn's hands. He ran to help his sidekick. 

Beth watched the fight, absolutely horrified. She'd actually lost track of which Launchpad was which, and couldn't do a thing to help her friend. With a roar, Agrajag made his identity clear as he morphed into its natural form and began to overwhelm Launchpad again. Launchpad muttered, "Not again," and squeezed his eyes shut. 

"Ah, ah, ah," said Darkwing. "That's cheating." He squeezed the trigger on his gas gun. The gas enveloped Agrajag, and then seemed to be absorbed by the creature. It pulled away from Launchpad. Beth ran to Launchpad's side and helped him up, and away from the alien. Agrajag coughed violently, and Darkwing called, "Gosalyn! The vial!" 

"Right!" she called, and ran towards him with it. 

Agrajag, still coughing, began to recover. "FOOLS," it said. It morphed into Beth's form and stuck her leg out in front of Gosalyn. She tripped, and the vial went flying. Darkwing made a grab for it, but Agrajag made a grab for him at the same time, knocking him to the ground. "We've got to stop meeting this way, Drake darling," she said hoarsely. Her features looked a little blurred, as though they were smoky. 

Beth and Launchpad both jumped for the vial at the same time and tripped over each other. Honker ran for it and got it just before it hit the ground. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Agrajag looked up. "Looks like something awfully interesting is in that thing," she said. 

Darkwing, who had been pinned by Agrajag, rolled over and pinned her to the ground instead. She just smiled at him coldly. "Now I KNOW there's something interesting in there," she said. She shifted again into the transitory form and covered Darkwing. 

Gosalyn held up her arms. "Honk! Over here!" 

Honker threw the vial. Unfortunately, it didn't go very far. Beth caught it before it hit the ground, and held on to it. If they froze Agrajag now, Darkwing might be trapped inside it forever... And she had no intention of letting that happen. She had to get Agrajag away from Darkwing. She took a deep breath. "Hey, slime mold! Over here!" she yelled, and waved the vial. Agrajag slid itself off of Darkwing and started for Beth. She hadn't expected it to move as fast as it did. "Oh, dear," she whispered, and then took off running. 

"Beth!" yelled Launchpad. He ran after her, grabbed the vial, and doubled back. Agrajag saw this, and gave up its pursuit of Beth in favor of Launchpad. It was making good time. 

Beth stopped running completely and watched. No, not Launchpad. Lightening flashed momentarily, followed almost directly by thunder. "NO!" she screamed, and took off running after both of them. If she got hurt, or even killed, that was it, but she didn't want to think of what would happen if LAUNCHPAD got hurt or... worse. He was her dearest friend in the world, and she knew then that she would willingly lay down her life for him. 

She realized that she couldn't catch up to Launchpad while the alien was chasing him, so she did the next best thing and tackled Agrajag. It was absolutely disgusting, like falling into a pool of slightly coagulated grease. There was almost nothing to hold on to. In a second, Launchpad was with her, pulling her free from the mess. 

"It's not that easy, Terran," growled Agrajag. It spread its form across them, beginning to envelop them both. "We are not restrained by physical dimensions the way YOUR race is." 

Launchpad chose to ignore it, and instead tried to gain some footing in the slipperiness. Beth cried, "Launchpad, forget me! Use the formula!" 

"No way!" he said, and managed to make some headway. "I won't leave you! 'Sides, I don't have it anymore!" 

"You don't!" Beth looked startled. Launchpad pulled her out from Agrajag's body most of the way. "Who does?" 

As he got her out completely, he said, "He does," and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. 

"What?" said Agrajag. 

"Suck glue, Slime Bag," said Darkwing. He aimed his Gas gun and fired. 

The vial hit Agrajag right in the middle, and lodged there. Agrajag looked as smug as a shapeless being made of gelatinous matter can. "You foolish being. I will not be stopped by your 'glue'; this effort has been made before!" Then it stopped its gloating. "Erg... What...?" 

What could have been its jaw dropped open, and then a shrill sound filled the air. Agrajag was screaming something in its own language. Launchpad still had his arm around Beth's shoulder. She turned to him and pressed her face against his jacket at this, and he put his other arm around her and held her protectively. 

Gosalyn watched, entranced. "Keen gear!" she breathed. Agrajag's mouth got wider, and then seemed to stick open. The rain poured down onto it, and steam began to rise from it gently. The scream faded, and everything was still. Darkwing made his way up to the frozen alien and prodded it gently. 

"Got 'im!" he said triumphantly. "It's frozen solid!" 

Honker pushed his glasses up. "Actually, it's molecules have bonded together-" 

Beth picked the explanation up. "-Fused completely in a manner that prevents any sort of motion, even interior, so that-" 

"Looks frozen to me," said Gosalyn. Beth and Honker looked at each other, then shrugged. 

Darkwing sniffed proudly. "Well, once again, Darkwing Duck has saved the world from whatever daily danger threatens life as we know it- be it criminal conspiracies, dimensional disasters, or alien invasions!" 

"It's only an invasion if there's more than one, Drake," said Beth. She grinned at him. 

He didn't seem to see the humor. "You've been spending too much time with Gosalyn." 

"You're learning!" said Gosalyn to Beth. 

For the next few days, there were recurring storms that would barely let up for more than an hour before another one set in. But eventually the storm front cleared up, and St. Canard had its first clear day in a almost a week. "On a clear day, you can see forever," Beth attempted to quote, looking out the window of the Bay Bridge Tower. "It's a nice day. The first one since that... STUFF happened." 

"It is a nice day," agreed Darkwing. 

"'That stuff'? You mean the slime alien?" asked Gosalyn. "Wow, that was sure exciting, huh, Beth?" 

"Uh-huh," said Beth, still watching the bridge. 

"I mean, we almost got killed! If it wasn't for me, you guys would never have made it out of the closet, and the world would be doomed, isn't that right, Dad?" 

"That's right, Gos," said Darkwing passively. He was sitting at a table playing solitaire. He'd been forced to put up with this sort of thing for the past few days, and was getting pretty good at tuning it out. 

"Boy, you two are a couple of drags!" said Gosalyn, unhappy with the small amount of praise she was getting. "If Launchpad were here, I bet he'd be livelier than you!" 

"I bet you're right," said Darkwing mildly. Looking from left to right shiftily to make sure no one was watching, he sorted through all the cards in the deck until he found one he could use in a move. 

"Sorry, Gosalyn. But this is something I'd just rather forget. I didn't enjoy the whole thing as much as you seemed to," said Beth. She leaned out of the window a little to catch the breeze that was drifting by, and changed the subject a little. "You know, I still think that you should have let those science people have the alien to study instead of giving it to the museum," she said to Darkwing. 

"THAT would have been extremely dangerous. If they'd found a way to revive it, even accidentally, the earth could have been in some serious trouble. Besides, it's a great museum exhibit, and you get to share a 'donated by' credit with me." 

"Mmm," said Beth, not nearly as impressed by having a 'donated by' credit as she was at having her name next to Drake's in the papers- even if he WAS listed as "Darkwing Duck" instead of "Drake Mallard". 

Darkwing interpreted her silence as a lack of enthusiasm, and tried another tactic. "Think of all of the children of St. Canard who are learning from the alien's presence!" he said. 

"I guess you're right, then," she said. "But stop cheating at your solitaire game." 

"How in the heck...?" he muttered to himself, gathering up the cards and reshuffling them. 

"Busted! Ha ha!" said Gosalyn in an attempt to get attention. 

Suddenly Launchpad came into the tower, carrying a short stack of newspapers. "Hey guys, we're still makin' the papers! There's a little story in the back about our museum donation," he said, turning to the page and pointing at a brief paragraph. 

"Well, thanks, LP, but I already have a good seventy-five copies of today's paper!" said Darkwing. 

"I know. I just thought that maybe Beth would like a few copies," he said. She turned around from the window to face him. 

"Thanks," she said, and smiled. "I can send copies to my family and friends." She didn't mention that she only had two family members who would be interested in reading it, and that she didn't have ANY friends who would care. "It's a nice day." 

"It is," he agreed as he put the papers down on the table that Darkwing was playing cards at. "Mind if I join ya?" he asked. She smiled and shook her head, and he joined her at the window. 

"Thanks, Launchpad," said Darkwing irritably as he tried to salvage his cards out from under the stack of papers. Looking at the two of them, he felt a little bit... odd. 'The alien didn't say anything about Beth loving LAUNCHPAD,' he thought, and then caught himself thinking that and wondered what had inspired it. 

"Well, guys, I guess everything's great now, huh?" said Gosalyn, her tone indicating that she was leading up to something with that pointless comment. 

"Everything's great," sighed Launchpad. 

"Uh-huh, things have been nice lately," said Beth, more or less as oblivious as she usually was to Launchpad's love. 

"Where are you going with this, Gos?" said Darkwing suspiciously. 

"Oh, I don't know... I just thought I'd mention that everything seems to be great. But there's just one thing we have to ask ourselves, isn't there?" she asked with a grin. 

"What would that be?" Darkwing asked. 

"Well, we got rid of the alien... But I just have to wonder: What if it already contacted its armies of alien invaders, and they're planning an attack even as we speak?" asked Gosalyn. Everyone froze. Gosalyn, enjoying their reactions, went on. "After all, it said it was a genius... Suppose it planned ahead in case we did outsmart it? After all, every great monster movie has... a sequel." 

The other three stood where they were, contemplating this fact in silence and wondering just exactly how long they might have left to live. 

THE END?

Next: The Wedding of the Century! (Maybe, kinda, a little...)

* * *

Copyright Rebecca Littlehales, 1995. Beth Webfoot created by me, R. Littlehales; all other characters are owned by Disney and are used without permission. This story is not intended to infringe on the Walt Disney Company in any way. It may be duplicated as long as it is not sold or altered in any form. If you wish to distribute it I would like to be notified- I am not stingy at all and will almost definitely let you use it. Unless it's at Christmas time, since I turn into a real miser then and won't even give an extra lump of coal to my workers. Bah Humbug!


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